2025 trade package #21: Sport Card Collectors

Tonight I'm covering my lone October trade envelope which I think arrived about a week before a super busy month for my mailbox. This one's a fun collaboration as Dion (Dion's IP Autos Only) sent it to me on behalf of buddy of the blog Matt of Sport Card Collectors. Matt sends me PWEs throughout the year pretty regularly and this was a fun way to get one as he traded Dion for some Michigan cards I could use. (He also sent me an early Christmas package but you'll have to wait a few days until I catch up to November!)

Please enjoy this 100% Michigan-themed trade recap!

Larkin represents baseball tonight, and he's a pretty good option given he's probably the most notable Michigan alum in MLB of the past 50ish years, though that's nothing against guys like Jake Cronenworth, Rich Hill, JJ Putz, and many others. The HOF SS looks great in his School Colors.

Michigan Basketball is certainly having a season to remember (along with the hockey team, though they're not represented here tonight), firing on all cylinders with an 8-0 start that includes four games in which they scored 100 or more. These two guys have long since left Ann Arbor but Bufkin and the younger Wagner bro, as seen on Wild Card Alumination cards, both put up good enough numbers over two seasons each to get drafted in the first round. Wagner's turned into a star for Orlando and that's been fun to see, especially as my collection of his cards continues to grow.

Football ended up comprising 75% of this envelope and that's 100% fine with me! First we have former Bills (and three other teams) QB Todd Collins appears on items from 1995 Classic and Superior Pix. They get me a couple cards closer to the century mark with a current total of 92, and of course I'm digging the college action photos.

I'll talk more about the other football guy in this scan since

he appears four more times in this one! Before Blake Corum's Michigan career Mike Hart was my all-time favorite Wolverines RB, and I think that may still be the case, but they're very close. That's why I was super excited to see the last card of the first scan, a 2008 Topps Rookie Progression Gold parallel that's numbered /199 on the back. I have 140 cards of Hart but it feels like it's rare for me to get anything this nice of him anymore. That makes this insert my favorite in the package.

But that's no slight against the rest. 2008 UD Draft Edition's set included a number of multiplayer cards, some of teammates and others of guys who shared positions. The one of Hart with #1 overall pick LT Jake Long, who blocked on many of Mike's TDs, is especially cool, and the other pairs him with fellow back Darren McFadden, the first-rounder out of Arkansas who played 10 seasons with Oakland and Dallas.

The other two Hart cards also describe him very well. 2009 Topps Magic is a fantastic set, and it was magic how often Hart ran without losing yards or fumbling, and how often he'd pick up key blocks while stoning players much bigger than him. And if he was "Mini" sized, well, he made up for it in strength, toughness, and determination. That makes him a great choice to be the most prominent player in this envelope.

Last up is another very tough Michigan RB from the 2000s. Chris Perry was a Heisman finalist in 2003 as he had a crazy 338 rushing attempts for almost 1700 yards, plus 18 runs for scores (in addition to a pair of TD catches). He embodied persistence with a school record of 51 carries for over 200 yards against rival Michigan State that year, leading the Wolverines to a tough 27-20 win in East Lansing.

I love that the maize & blue really pop on the two 2004 Press Pass cards Matt got from Dion for me: a base card and Showbound insert.

Thank you again to Matt for getting these for me and Dion for making the effort to send them my way. I may just have Christmas items in store for both of you! As I mentioned I'll show off the next package from Matt soon, but first I need to do a quick recap of October's show. That package will then lead off at least six November trades from current/former bloggers, and I'm looking forward to thanking each person for what they sent me.

2023 trade package #30: Sport Card Collectors

My final post of 2023 is my Christmas gift from Matt of the group of blogs I still refer to as Sport Card Collectors. Not that long after the second of the latest two PWEs he sent me materialized in my mailbox I had another envelope with even more goodies. As it turns out, he treated me to a bunch of Tigers IP/TTM autos from expert in that field Dion, so thanks to both of them for this outstanding collaboration:

We'll start with Bartee (1997 Topps), who's one of the most notable names in the group. It's not like his MLB career was much to write home about, but the six-year MLBer returned to Detroit in 2021, eventually serving as the first base coach, and he was due to return the following season before he tragically died suddenly from a brain tumor at just 49 years old.

Crosby (2012 Bowman Draft RC) was a top-50 pitching prospect drafted by the Tigers out of high school in 2007, though as with many such selections in the past 20 years he didn't pan out, lasting just one season in the bigs. It looks like the lefty was given a chance by the Twins in 2018 and he otherwise played in indy ball in 2017 and 2019-20.

Duran (1998 Stadium Club RC) wins the award for this post's best card design/signature combo for sure. That's an excellent legible autograph running up the right edge under his pitching arm. Roberto pitched out of the 'pen in 31 games over 1997 and '98 on a couple forgettable teams. He didn't get to appear on any certified autos so kudos to the Domincan hurler for a great signature he didn't have to practice as often as players these days.

Edmondson's (1993 Bowman) name is one I'm not familiar with, but after looking him up it's probably because he never pitched for the Tigers. Drafted out of high school in 1991, he later bounced around between the Mets, Braves, and Marlins, getting a nice tour of the current NL East. His MLB career consisted of a 9-12 record over 121 games between 1998-99, then he finished his minor league career in the Detroit system again before a season in indy ball. It looks like he's since landed on his feet, going into coaching future pitchers.

Another guy that's very notable for me is Fields (2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks), for a couple reasons. Drafted out of a local high school in 2009, he was surely even more familiar to the Tigers as the son of Bruce Fields, who played briefly for the team in 1986 and then worked for the franchise as a minor league manager and hitting coach. Another connection for me is that Daniel was thought to be leaning towards his commitment to play baseball at Michigan. A $1,625,000 signing bonus (as a 6th rounder) changed his mind. Unfortunately he saw just three plate appearances in his lone MLB game (in 2015, though at least he doubled and scored.

Foucault (1978 Topps) is the oldest player in this bunch, and amazingly he pitched for six MLB seasons (including 1977-78  with Detroit) despite being a 43rd(!) round draft pick back in 1969. There were about 20 fewer teams back then, but still! His claim to fame for the Tigers would be the player the team received in a deal that sent fan favorite Willie Horton to Texas in 1977. The card he signed above, quite legibly, I should add, is his lone cardboard appearance with the Tigers.

On to the second scan! Greisinger (1999 Topps) was the biggest prospect of this group, I would think, as the 6th overall pick out of Virginia in 1996. He was a top-100 prospect to Baseball America the following season, then made his debut in '98, winning six of his 21 starts. The injury bug got him soon after, though, and he'd spend just 21 more games in the bigs with the Tigers, Twins, and Braves. He had a much better time in Korea and then Japan, though, spending nine mostly successful seasons there. And he has a pretty interesting signature to boot!

Heath (2002 Topps Chrome Traded) is a guy I had to look up, and for good reason: he was a 31st round pick in 2000! It looks like he never got above high-A ball with Detroit or the Angels so I'm not sure why Topps considered him a prospect, but I'm happy he got himself a card and I'm bet he was happy to sign this one. He's another guy that appears to have gone into coaching, in his case, high school ball.

Lowry (1987 Donruss RC) was a backup catcher (and occasional 1B) for the Tigers in 1984, '86, and '87 after being drafted out of UNC in 1980. It doesn't look like he appeared in the playoffs for the '84 champs but it must have still been amazing to be part of the wire-to-wire champs! He managed in the franchise's minor league system from 1995 until his untimely death in 1997 from a heart attack at just 39. His Wikipedia article mentions that the Tigers named their Player Development Man of the Year Award in his honor.

Back when signing players out of Asia was much less common (though growing, thanks to the rousing success of Hideo Nomo), the Tigers took a gamble on Taiwanese lefty Fu-Te Ni (2009 Bowman Draft RC) before the start of the '09 season. The Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang's success had lots of teams looking to replicate that strategy. Ni pitched quite well in 36 games out of the 'pen that season, but his numbers went the wrong way the following season. While MLB didn't work out for him he did go on to play through 2020 for various indy and foreign leagues. His signature didn't scan especially well here but it's easily one of the coolest of the bunch.

Time to come clean again: I had no idea who Yuri Sanchez (1992 Classic Draft Picks) was. That surprised me a bit more because the Dominican IF was actually a second round pick in 1992 out of a Massachusetts high school. The player selected right after him? Todd Helton (who, to be fair, didn't sign and ended up going to college, not playing for the Padres). He appears to have spent 1992-2000 in several teams' systems but never made it higher than AAA with the Reds in '96. Sanchez then played parts of six seasons in indy ball.

And last up tonight is Larry Sheets (1991 Upper Deck), whose last MLB cards were produced after his single year in Detroit--1990 (though he did play 11 games for Seattle in '93). The 1978 Baltimore second rounder--the first of four Orioles picks that round, and it took two more for them to select a local kid named Ripken--his 1984 cup of coffee led to a solid five-season run with the O's that included 83 homers. Detroit made a deal for him in January of '90 and he put up not-awful numbers as mostly a DH doing spot work in the outfield corners. I think I remember him best thanks to some of those late 80s NES baseball games, and mostly as an Oriole.

Many thanks again to Matt (and Dion for the assist!) for these 12 autographs of Tigers, some of which I knew well and others I obviously didn't. I'm always happy to learn more about who I collect, though, so this was a very educational post for me, at least, in addition to a great Christmas present. I hope both guys I mentioned here had a fantastic holiday as well and I look forward to Matt's reaction to my gift to him whenever he's ready.

And as for everyone else, I hope you all had a great year of collecting in 2023, and here's to a fantastic '24. Happy New Year!

2019 trade package #14: Dion's IP Autos Only

I'm back for a second day in a row because I've got an easy job today, posting a single card!  Back in late April I was checking out the day's post on A Pack to Be Named Later (one of the first card blogs I followed years ago) and saw a pack break by Dion of Dion's IP Autos Only that interested me:

An eight card set honoring this year's NFL Hall of Famers.  That group includes a few players I know well, such as Champ Bailey, Tony Gonzalez, and Ed Reed.  So why was this pack relevant to my interests?  Well, the 2019 class also features this guy, whose card Dion was nice enough to send my way for an unwanted auto (naturally):

Former Michigan CB Ty Law.  Law was a very talented DB for the Wolverines in the early/mid 90s that was selected by the Pats at #23 overall in 1995, and he was actually teammates with recent Michigan draftee Maurice Hurst's dad.  His career highlights include Super Bowl rings in 2001 and 2003 (plus 2004, though he barely played due to injury), 53 career picks (seven that went for TDs), and five Pro Bowl selections.  He twice led the league in interceptions and was named to the sport's All-2000s decade second team.

Law was a guy that came up big when it counted, scoring a pick-six against Kurt Warner's Rams in '01 and intercepting five-headed friend of racists/garbage pizza place owner Papa John Peyton Manning three times in the AFC title game.  Stints with the Jets, Chiefs, and Broncos followed before he called it a career after the 2009 season.

Most of that was from the linked sources above and you can see some of those key stats on the back, which I've included for the sake of completeness:

Congratulations to Ty on his deserved election to Canton where he'll rightfully be remembered with the greats.

And many thanks to Dion for an easy first deal.  I look forward to making more trades with you in the future!